An historic $258 million bond measure for affordable housing in Portland

Friday, July 08, 2016

Central City Concern is committed to reducing homelessness in Portland. We believe everyone deserves to have a place called home. Working families should
be able to live where they work. Seniors who built our neighborhoods should be able to thrive here through their golden years. But because of significant
growth and stagnant incomes, Portland has a huge shortage of affordable housing: affordable housing helps everyone by creating a safe, equitable and
healthy community.

That’s why Central City Concern supports the Welcome Home Coalition’s Yes for Affordable Homes campaign, which is dedicated to funding affordable housing development in Portland. On June 30, the Portland City Council voted to refer a historic
affordable housing bond to the November ballot, giving voters a chance to make a critically needed investment in our community. The $258.4 million bond will:

- Add permanently affordable housing – an estimated 1,300 units, 600 of which will be reserved for very low-income households (0-30 percent median family
income, which is up to about $22,000 for a family of four)

- Stabilize existing affordable housing in changing neighborhoods

- Ensure thousands of homes are protected from the market

- Protect communities of color, seniors, families, children and people with disabilities

- Prevent and reverse displacement.

Housing prices in the Portland metro area are rising at an alarming rate. National research shows when the average rent increases by $100 per month, homelessness
increases by 15 percent. In 2015, average Portland rents increased by $128.

Please join us in supporting the Yes for Affordable Homes campaign. We can all join together to prevent homelessness and preserve our healthy Portland
neighborhoods.